IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 445 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that corporations should 

commit to utilizing the benefits of gender diversity in boards of directors 

and other senior management positions. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 

Mr. BEYER (for himself, Mr. EMMER of Minnesota, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mrs. 

DAVIS of California, and Miss RICE of New York) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

corporations should commit to utilizing the benefits of 

gender diversity in boards of directors and other senior 

management positions. 

Whereas a McKinsey and Company study entitled ‘‘Women 

Matter’’, published in October of 2007, showed that corporations in which women are most greatly represented 

on boards of directors, or in other senior management positions, are also the corporations that perform the best; 

Whereas such study showed that corporations that have 3 or 

more women serving in senior management positions 

score more highly, on average, on the organizational perVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Sep 29, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR445.IH HR445

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•HRES 445 IH 

formance profile than corporations with no women serving in senior management positions; 

Whereas such study showed that performance increases significantly once a certain critical number of women serving in senior management positions is attained—specifically, when there are at least 3 women on management 

committees with an average membership of 10 individuals; 

Whereas an Oklahoma State University study entitled ‘‘Corporate Governance, Board Diversity, and Firm Performance’’, published in March of 2002, found that gender diversity on boards of directors is associated with improved 

financial value; 

Whereas Catalyst, a non-profit and non-partisan organization, found in the 2014 Catalyst Census that women represent 46.8 percent of the labor force yet only account for 

19.2 percent of corporate board seats for S&P 500 companies, and a Catalyst report entitled ‘‘Corporate Performance and Women’s Representation on Boards’’, published in 2007, found that gender diversity on corporate 

boards contributes to more effective corporate governance 

and to positive governance outcomes through a variety of 

board processes, as well as through individual interactions; 

Whereas such report found that women directors contribute 

to important corporate-level outcomes because they play 

direct roles as leaders and mentors, as well as indirect 

roles as symbols of opportunity for other women, and inspire those women to achieve and stay with their corporations; 


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Whereas such report found that more recognition of the valuable contribution of women directors to corporation value 

is needed; 

Whereas ending in 2012 Credit Suisse conducted a 6-year 

global research study entitled ‘‘Gender Diversity and Corporate Performance’’, published in 2012, of more than 

2,000 corporations worldwide that showed that women 

serving on corporation boards improved corporation performance with respect to key metrics, including stock 

performance, as demonstrated by the fact that corporations with a market capitalization of more than 

$10,000,000,000 on whose boards women served outperformed by 26 percent stock performance of comparable corporations with boards on which no women 

served; 

Whereas such report found a greater correlation between corporations’ stock performance and the presence of women 

directors since the financial crisis in 2008, in addition to 

finding that corporations with women serving as directors 

significantly outperformed other corporations when the financial crisis occurred; 

Whereas such report found that corporations with women 

serving as directors tend to be somewhat risk-averse and 

carry less debt, on average, compared to corporations 

with no women directors, and that net income growth for 

such corporations averaged 14 percent over a 6-year period, compared with 10 percent for those corporations 

with no women directors; and 

Whereas the United States 30% Club formed by a group of 

business leaders and now including 49 United States 

chairpeople and chief executive officers is committed to 


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better gender balance at all levels of corporate organizations through voluntary actions: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) the citizens of the United States have a sig4 nificant stake in promoting robust, sustainable eco5 nomic growth; 

6 (2) such growth will be strengthened and accel7 erated by the ever-fuller inclusion of women in the 

8 United States workforce, at all levels of corporate 

9 management; and 

10 (3) corporations in the United States should 

11 undertake a commitment to ever-fuller utilization of 

12 the talents, skills, and work ethic of women on 

13 boards of directors and in other senior management 

14 positions. 

Æ 


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